My Random Thoughts On "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger" In 23 Episodes (Spoilers Ahead!)

 

King-Ohger seems to be ready to open a new chapter. We have Racules overthrown (but I believe he'll be back as a neutrally aligned villain (since he does have his own powers too), given that Masato Yano hasn't been given his flowers unlike Boshimar's actor). I guess the writers have no intention to expand on what Boshimar was before Kamejim's assassination and identity theft. So yeah, it's kinda not surprising that the real Boshimar was dead and that Kamejim stole the identity of a dead person. It's very typical in many superhero shows to steal a dead person's identity.

I wrote about why I felt that King-Ohger was a celebratory show after all. I could really discuss what might be Easter eggs left and right. There are some shows (under the Toei umbrella) that are celebrating their major anniversaries. This year is also the 30th anniversary of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers - the very big entry point for Toei Ltd. to the American market. I feel the show also has Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog in mind. I feel the whole show is a pseudo-sequel to Kamen Rider Saber though they're obviously self-contained. Now for what I felt must be going on.

The main heroes of the show

Most of the time, Super Sentai tends to follow the formula of a team of Japanese people that fight to defend the Earth. It's a really weird phenomenon that Tokyo is the Center of the Universe for Japanese shows. In American shows, the aliens always choose to attack America first for some stupid reason. Neither Super Sentai nor Power Rangers ever bothered to provide an explanation as to WHY. Well, even American superhero show producers might really say it's easier to film something in just one location than to move to too many locations. I guess that's really Real Life Writes Plot. Here, the rangers belong to a very different Universe. It's the World of Chikyu which I dare say almost feels like Tir Na Nog two millennia or more later. Though, it's virtually impossible to connect King-Ohger to Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog due to several plots. 

I first expected Yanma Gast to be a techno-geek like Billy Cranston from Mighty Morphin' or Nagare Tatsumi from Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive. Instead, this guy would stand a chance battling them both even if both Billy and Nagare ganged up against him. It's because Yanma isn't your typical techno guy but he's a punk and a prankster. I did like how Yanma tried to let Racules sit on that fart cushion. Later, Yanma succeeded in doing it. I did LMAO so hard on Yanma's revenge. Yanma and his team prove valuable in inventing stuff. I guess not so many children today will dread playing Yanma because he's just cool.

Himeno Ran herself is the ruler of a European-style nation occupied by mostly Japanese-looking people. My first impression of her was Lili Roquefort from the Tekken series. Yes, she's got a butler named Sebastian and he was fortunate not to get destroyed. Himeno's actress Erica Murakami (real surname unknown as of this time) is half-Canadian. Erica also kind of looks like Jacqueline Scislowski at certain angles. I even joke that Jacqueline and her peers on a farm are the people of Ishabana visiting Toufu. 

Gira Husty, well he was obviously going to be like Lucky from Ucchu Sentai Kyuranger in some way. It was predictable that Gira and Racules are estranged siblings. How Gira got kidnapped hasn't been revealed yet. Gira makes a lot of hard decisions because he's fighting his own brother. I wonder if Gira's meeting his many-times great-grandfather Reinol (and it's NOT a pleasant meeting) in the Summer Movie may help explain how Racules turned out the way he was. I think Gira getting crowned king in the middle may open new story opportunities. It looks like he must defend his throne if ever Racules returns as a neutrally-aligned villain.

I really want to joke that Rita Kaniska herself is the daughter of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa. I even want to joke that Emperor Zetto of Ressha Sentai ToQger is her brother and that Thrax was just a pretender all along. Okay, that's even more preposterous since Power Rangers is always meant to operate INDEPENDENTLY. I may not like Power Rangers but I had a lot of fun watching Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa marry in the second season of Mighty Morphin'. Rita does also get headaches too easy making her scream. I laugh at how Rita easily gets a headache and screams. I wonder why Morfonia hasn't delivered her an aspirin yet. Her cold character matches that of Gokkan. I even wanted to joke that the Snow Prince in Power Rangers Mystic Force took part in raising Rita Kanisuka at the orders of Mystic Mother Rita Repulsa. 

Kaguragi Dybowski is pretty much an anti-hero. I think Toufu is the only country that really matches the people in it. I wonder why didn't the writers decide to make the five continents resemble another Asian country instead? I guess they wanted to feel the awkwardness of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest where Caucasian characters are given Japanese voices. Heck, I even prefer to listen to the American-English dialogue in thos games because it feels "more authentic". What I failed to notice is that So Kaku kinda looks like Yoshi Sudarso. I even want to joke now that caveman Koda went back in time, fixed the timeline that his displacement wrecked, and eventually became the ancestor of Kaguragi in the process. Yet another ridiculous stretch, am I right?

The Spoiled Brat Racules is practically loads of fun

The whole story has five monarchs trying to get together. The beginning features King Racules who starts out he could be a scheming villain. Over time, Racules ends up being what I'd call probably the most entertaining person and Meme Lord in the show. Racules is evil but he's also pretty stupid on many levels. Heck, Racules should've known better than to have a peace treaty with the Bugnarok leader Desnarak VIII! Racules was planning to let the others DIE so he could take over. Did it ever occur to Racules that if they died - he'd be overwhelmed eventually? Not a very well-calculated move. It was also predictable that Racules was the older brother of Gira. It's not explained yet how Gira got kidnapped or why Racules turned evil. Some people speculate Racules must've been corrupted at some point since he's practically the biggest Large Ham the show has to offer. Yes, very delicious ham which I think is his performance. 

The dilemma always has to do with the legalities. Racules himself isn't fit to rule. I kinda like how Racules tends to act like General Sakamori Miwa of Tossho Daimos. Miwa himself was irritating but could also be very funny as well. Racules could care less how many people die IF he becomes a hero. This is the contrast of Gira the younger brother. The other monarchs would side with Gira because they can't let a Psychopathic Manchild rule over Chikyu. The movie does give details about their ancestor Reinol Husty from 2,000 years back. So yeah, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to insert Queen Maeve from Tir Na Nog as the many-times great-grandmother of both Racules and Gira. That's unless one can say that Reinol was a descendant of Rohan a few generations later. Still works but only in fanfiction, not the actual plot!

I think Racules shows himself as an entertaining villain. The guy knows how to throw good publicity like Hercule does in Dragon Ball Z. Speaking of which Racules' name is obviously derived from Hercules and there's a Hercules Beetle. Juuku B-Fighter had a mecha called Mega Hercules (or Mega Heracles) which was a carrier mecha. I guess Toei wanted to make a nod to Hercule (who is also called Mr. Satan in the original dub for some STUPID reason). Like Hercule (or Master Pogi in the hilariously stupid Filipino dub), Racules is pretty much a braggart who can't back up his claims. However, Racules has the malice that Hercule lacks. 

It looks like the show's celebrating the 45th anniversary of Japanese Supaida-Man after all

I gave Japanese Supaida-Man a shot and I think I'd rewatch Spider-Man: The Animated Series by Haim Saban instead. I may feel Power Rangers ain't my cup of tea but I think Saban Entertainment knows how to handle Marvel better than Toei. Sorry really, because the late Stan Lee could go ahead and be amazed at what Toei did with the Spider-Man license. Maybe, Lee himself was impressed at the obvious Doctor Doom tribute in Professor Monster. Bandai did meddle and cause a strange experiment to happen. Fortunately, Saban didn't get into that problem when it was his turn to make a series based on Spider-Man. Lee loved the Japanese Supaida-Man series though he did also make an animated cameo in Saban's adaptation.

1978 was also the year when Daimos showed up. Racules is pretty much Miwa in some way. Later, we're introduced to Jeramie Brasserie who's pretty much a spider-man. Jeramie's mother was a Bugnarok and his father was a human. I guess Jeramie is meant to show that not all Bugnaroks are evil and not all humans are good. It's really no surprise that Jeramie has his own robot too. Japanese Supaida-Man did have his own personal Zord as well. 

Jeramie is pretty much the narrator of the show for the introduction. I think his expositions are meant to confuse the audience. Rita did get angry at him for speaking in riddles. I think Jeramie's half-breed origin might play itself in later episodes. Hopefully, more of the past will be explored and there will be more good Bugnaroks than his his shapeshifting ally Gemojim.

The Bugnaroks may still need more work

There are times I feel that Desnarak VIII is cool for actually getting his hands dirty. Kamejim did have his plot where he murdered the REAL Boshimar and was "Boshimar" for some time. The fan theory was proven right that Boshimar was Kamejim but only in part. The real Boshimar died and Kamejim took over the identity. Desnarak VIII and Kamejim are always up to their sinister plans to take over Chikyu. The two villains seem to have a little bit of Modus Operandi that might make them more pragmatic. More pragmatic in some way than how standard villains super hero shows carry out with some Bond Villain Stupidity.

Early episodes already suggest that Desnarak VIII is determined to take over humanity ASAP. For example, episodes 9-10 show how Desnarak VIII intended to let five giant monsters attack five different areas. That's been a more practical plan than what most Super Sentai villains do in most of the entries. The Bugnarok would later take advantage of what they could. Later on, the Bugnarok go as far as to teign a peace treaty with Racules. Sure, the Bugnarok were soon overthrown but what I can't deny is that I never expected the villains to be a bit more pragmatic or focus on different modus operandi.

It reminds me of how villains in the Kamen Rider series differed during the Showa era and the reboot. My first exposure to the series are Kamen Rider BLACK and the failed sequel Kamen Rider BLACK RX. I also watched a few episodes of The First Kamen Rider and Kamen Rider V3. The villains were mostly focused on rather entertainingly questionable plans. The Heisei era began with villains who were usually single-minded such as the Gegeru of Grongi in Kamen Rider Kuuga. The Worms in Kamen Rider Kabuto were focused on practical plans for their takeover. 

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Right now, it's going to probably get more entertaining as the second half is brewing. Who knows what coudl happen. The mysterious killer is still not discovered. What's going to happen next?